The instant Sasuke Uchiha stepped into the starlit mist, his vision filled with boundless silver-white radiance, gentle yet blinding.
There was none of the spatial distortion or discomfort he had expected, only a strange sensation of sinking into warm water, enveloped and buoyed by some gentle, vast power.
The faint, solemn celestial music in his ears grew clearer, yet he could not distinguish any particular notes. He only felt his mind grow solemn and still against his will.
When his vision cleared and his feet touched solid ground, he found himself in an entirely unfamiliar, magnificent realm that made his soul tremble.
Beneath his feet lay a vast platform paved with a special stone, polished as a mirror and lustrous as white jade, yet incomparably hard.
All of it had been made from materials Uchiha Ryūha had won in earlier draws. He had spared no expense.
Along the platform's edge stood jade railings carved with countless intricate, mysterious patterns, emitting a faint silver glow.
Beyond those railings stretched an endless, ceaselessly churning sea of pure clouds!
The sea of clouds was not still. It slowly swirled, unfurled, and gathered as though alive.
Under heavenly light from some unknown source, it shimmered with dreamlike shades of gold, purple, and indigo.
Farther away, countless palaces and pavilions of varying sizes but harmonious design floated above the billowing clouds, scattered like islands across a star-filled sky!
Silver-white, moon-white, and pale gray dominated these palaces, with sweeping eaves, interlocking brackets, carved beams, and painted rafters.
They possessed both the elegance and dignity of Eastern architecture and an ethereal air that transcended the mortal world.
Rainbow bridges arched between the palaces, alongside teleportation arrays flickering with spiritual light.
There were also countless figures dressed in silver-gray robes similar in style to Kuchiki Byakuya's, though lighter